Posted by kelphead on September 13, 2000 at 15:41:51:
In Reply to: Discount Diver Supply reputation? posted by KZ on September 13, 2000 at 00:12:13:
the only time i dealt w/'divers discount' is when
i walked in to an orange county location and
purchased an analogue depth guage. no problems
there, but i have never dealt w/this company
via mail order.
i just wanted to say that the 600$ difference
that you quoted aint no small change--you could
easily buy a very high quality reg w/that money.
(anyone who thinks that's saving a few dollars
here and there must be quite well off.)
i tend to sympathize w/your situation and would
say heed other people's warnings, but only you
can do what you believe is in your best interest
in the end.
some people have brought up some very good points
about buying from a shop. however, i have to
also admit that i have yet to find a shop to call
'home'. i thought i was just being too picky, but
when i found out that other divers feel the same
way that i do, i knew it couldn't just be my
problem. i've either hit incompetence, ignorance,
attitude, or apathy. sometimes the shop is a
little out of my way which makes it inconvenient,
or it's just too pricey for my budget.
i don't shop at just one store, and neither do all
other divers. in fact, i had asked one diver who
is a regular poster on this board to recommend
a dive shop and his response was something like
he didn't "need" a particular dive shop to call
'home'.
i'm not here to start a debate on in-store vs
mail/internet order, i just wanted to point out
that not all stores offer the great service that
some here assume all dive shops offer. many just
go out of business b/c the owner simply
lacked business know-how (and the mfgs will tell
you that).
so, some advice i would personally offer is to
indeed see if your shop can price match and if
not, then you can decide if the difference
in price per item is worth going to a different
local shop (it's called competition) or if you
are forced to go the mail order/on-line route.
as for getting advice and chartering boats, you
don't exclusively need a shop for that--you just
need access to other, well experienced divers
and direct access to boats. there are many ways
to get what you need and they don't always
include dive shops.
best wishes to you whatever you decide--OH!!!! and
welcome to the fantastic world of diving.
= : )
kelphead.